Patti Page, Singer of "The Tennessee Waltz," Dies at 85

Patti Page, the influential singer known for timeless pop songs like
“The Tennessee Waltz,” died Tuesday (Jan. 1) in Encinitas, Calif. She was 85.

In 1950, “The Tennessee Waltz” spent
three weeks at No. 2 on Billboard‘s country singles chart, as well as 13 weeks at No. 1 on the pop chart.

Between
1949 and 1981, Page placed 11 singles in the Top 40 of the country chart, although “The Tennessee Waltz” was her only Top
10 country hit. The Academy of Country Music presented her with the 1978 Pioneer Award to mark her career achievements.

Page’s
rich catalog also includes pop standards such as “Old Cape Cod,” “I Went to Your Wedding” and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in
the Window.”

Her on-screen career included the TV series The Patti Page Show from 1955 to 1958, as well asThe Big Record from 1957 to 1958. She also appeared in the 1960 film Elmer Gantry.

Page was born as Clara
Ann Fowler on Nov. 8, 1927, in Muskogee, Okla., and raised in Tulsa, Okla. She recorded 50 albums in her career and won a
1998 Grammy for Patti Page Live at Carnegie Hall — The 50th Anniversary Concert in the category of best traditional
pop vocal performance. She published This Is My Song: A Memoir in 2009.

In December, Page was announced as a
recipient of the Grammys’ Lifetime Achievement Award. She was expected to attend the gala event in Los Angeles on Feb. 9.

Page
is survived by her son Daniel O’Curran, daughter Kathleen Ginn and sister Peggy Layton.